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Track Name: Shepherd’s Cradle Song
Composer: Owain Park
Text: John Davies (1569-1626)
Duration: 3:43
Nationality: British
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Owain is also one of ORA’s commissioned composers. His work, a reflection on William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices, became the title track of ORA’s debut album; ‘Upheld by Stillness’.
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Owain founder of The Gesualdo Six, a vocal sextet specialising in the performance of renaissance polyphony.
“Shepherds’ Cradle Song was written for the birth of my friends’ first child. When I first discovered the text, I penned a few ideas for the piece but hadn’t quite found the inspiration to finish it. It was a nice surprise that just before the baby was due, some ideas worked their way back into my conscious and I was able to complete the work. The music takes inspiration from several composers, particularly Herbert Howells and John Rutter. The melody passes through the voices, with nods to the Christmas story including when three parts sing ‘We shepherds poor’.”
- Owain Park
Photo Credit: ORA